I’ll be honest with you: I’m exhausted. I got on a plane early this morning, ended up in LA, and then almost immediately went to the Slate launch event. So maybe keep that in mind as I relay my somewhat stream-of-consciousness thoughts and reactions about this truck and what it is and what it means and how it fits into the greater automotive world. Remember, this company spent lots of (presumably) Jeff Bezos’ money (I heard to afford the crash testing he had to hock his saxophone) to put on a big show, and the whole point of that show was to convince me and several hundred of my close auto journalist and social-media influencer friends that what Slate is doing is something remarkable. And, dammit, I think they may have actually convinced me.
Normally, I do so much eye-rolling at these product launches I have to fill eyedroppers full of WD-40. But that’s because most product launches are about crossovers or SUVs or trucks that are described with words like “dynamic” and “premium” and “tech” and are comfortable, expensive family-haulers that somehow have more horsepower than a glue factory and can go from a Target parking spot to 60 in under five seconds. They’re cars with massive acres of touchscreens, through which you have to do absolutely everything. Even opening the glove box or adjusting the airflow.
They’re expensive and sophisticated machines and I am absolutely sick of them, all of them, all of their pompous modernity and refinement and seriousness and complexity. They’re exhausting.
But the Slate isn’t like that. And, even better, that seems to be the whole point of these vehicles, right from the get-go. The event started with the CEO of Slate (which, we were assured, was never an anagram of Tesla), Chris Barman, reminding everyone how much the average car payment is in America ($742/month), and then she noted that based on income, that average really should be more like $400. But cars are expensive right now. And no one seems to care; they just keep adding more tech and more features and the prices keep going up and up, but is the experience of having a car really getting better?
Slate doesn’t seem to think so, and they seem to have created a car – or, I guess, truck – that honestly does seem to be the opposite of what everyone else is doing. They genuinely appear to have made something deliberately simple and stripped down, everything unnecessary removed, but also with plenty of provisions to add features in a modular way, at your leisure, and that includes adding body components to transfer the single-cab pickup into an open jeep-like car or two variants of SUVs, called, in a very Volkswagen Type 3 way, the Squareback and Fastback.
We’ve gone into the details about the Slate in other posts, so I won’t re-hash all that, but I will give you some of my visceral gut impressions I had while encountering these (prototype still, not even quite pre-production) trucks in person:
The Size
The size is just perfect, I think. It feels roughly old Ford Ranger-sized. These could make fantastic replacements for all the ancient Toyota and Nissan small pickups that are still being used as gardener’s trucks in the LA neighborhoods like the Hollywood Hills or Silverlake, where a big F-150 is just too cumbersome to wind those roads.
The Exposed Fasteners
Hell yes. I’ve been craving a modern car not ashamed of the fact that it’s held together with actual fasteners instead of magic and adhesives and silly little modesty plugs. Nearly every panel had visible, accessible fasteners, which should mean that repair and replacement of parts will be vastly easier than on most cars. Which means repairing accident damage should be cheaper, too, which is extremely important.
Those Crank Windows
I suppose if the Slate has a symbol, it’s this. Just having a manual window in a car now is like an act of defiance, and I’m here for it. This crank spits in the face of the very concept of “premium,” which has been destroying the soul of the automobile for decades. Not everything needs to be powered. It’s not hard to roll down a window; in fact, I think it’s good for one’s character, and it works if the car is on or off, has no wiring or motors, and if someone gets a finger chopped off in one, it was intentional.
The Absence Of A Touchscreen
Outside of a rash in my groin, I can’t remember the last time I was so excited by the absence of something. There’s no big center-stack infotainment screen here, just a mount for your phone with USB power, because your phone has all the crap you want on a center-stack screen already: your music, your maps, your messages, your whatever.
All of the time and engineering that goes into carmaker-designed operating systems for these touchscreens must represent one of the greatest ratios of effort to not-give-a-shittery in the history of mankind. I aggressively and deliriously do not care about any carmaker’s UX for these screens, because they all sort of suck and there’s almost nothing that they do that I wouldn’t just rather do on my phone.
And, if there’s no screen, then there’s no way to put HVAC controls or glove box releases or other bullshit in some menu on the screen. And that’s a good thing.
The backup camera shows its feed on the small instrument cluster LCD screen, and that’s just fine.
Both the center and passenger side dash panels open up for storage or to house speakers. It’s great.
The Taillights And Other Lighting
They’re pretty good! The side markers seem to be pleasingly from some catalog, and I kind of wish the taillights were just some parts-bin something, but as they are, they’re not bad, being roughly shaped like old Ford Econoline/Bronco taillights. Some of them appeared to have a little fresnel lens inside them, like a miniature lighthouse:
Up front, the round lights give a nice, friendly look to the car’s face, though I think they could have gone even more basic and used sealed beams, but oh well.
Also cool is the fact that you can change the whole look of the indicator lights by just swapping that gridded cover with one with other designs. Just four screws! That center grille panel can be changed out as well, along with a bunch of other parts:
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The Door Handles
These things are dead ringers for old AMC handles, as used on the Pacer, Hornet, Gremlin, and so on.
What About People Who Live In Apartments?
This is going to be one of the cheapest cars on the market –with the EV incentives– certainly the cheapest electric car. This means this should be popular among people without so much money to throw around, which often means people who don’t yet own their own homes. Many of these people may live in apartments. Where are they supposed to charge these? Home charging is a huge benefit for EVs, and without it, the EV use case gets more tenuous. This needs some sort of solution.
Can This Become A Classless Vehicle?
Let me start by saying “classless” is good here. You know how certain iconic people’s cars managed to take on a certain kind of classless appeal, where they could be owned by a broke student or a bigshot celebrity? Think Paul Newman and his VW Beetle or Peter Sellers and his Mini. Well, I think the Slate has a chance to become something like that, if they play their cards right.
Is a Rivian cooler than a Slate? An F-150 Lightning? A Cybertruck? I don’t really think so. I have a feeling these minimalist machines may have their own humble cachet.
The Cargo Area And Usefulness
In pickup mode, these have a five-foot bed, enough for big sheets of plywood:
Even with the rear seat in place, there’s still a good amount of cargo area:
Plus, it has what seems to be a pretty usable frunk, which is great, because you often want some kind of secure, enclosed storage.
Okay, I Gotta Get Some Sleep
There will be much more to say about the Slate, I’m sure. It may not be as cheap as I’d like, and I’m not totally convinced a battery-electric vehicle only was the way to go here, but I’m definitely excited by the underlying ideas of this truck, and I think the industry has needed something like this for a long, long time.
I think they are on to something but it’s a dangerous space being a startup maybe this is what they need to be to be different. DIY modular design is definitely in even if you aren’t going to do it. Its also the simple little truck the angry old guys have yelling about for decades sans the engine and manual transmission. It could get them in them bev especially if a rex shows up I think it could on the after market. Really has defender vibes and the quick change flexibility and simplicity adds to that military utilitarian functionality. If Polaris had built it you would assume it was for a dod contract. I can see many use cases for this and it may beat out some more obscure vehicles. In Japan the kei truck is the answer for just about everything. This could be that for that US. It’s really is insensitive dependent for consumers at this point hopefully with scale and maybe us built LFP battery apparently this is NMC based cost can be reduced enough for it make sense without incentives.
I think it’s awesome. Just put down my (refundable) $50 reservation.
NOT on the SLATE TRUCK, but on the SLATE SUV version.
Ford Maverick SLATE Truck Debut! Convertible From Pickup to SUV. Priced Under $20K With Federal Incentive 1745590945706-y
It’s not enough TRUCK for us (want AWD and more towing) so our new 25 Mav Lariat Hybrid checks that box. The MAV is a nice enough interior, quiet and comfortable with decent highway MPG that it’s also our designated out-of-town cruiser.
What is missing is a super efficient grocery-getter. Something for the around the town trips less than 100 miles. Groceries, Dr. Appts, etc. We’re using the MAV for that now, but a low cost but high-tech EV with some utility is a better match. We have a 220at home and 150 miles is plenty for us.
The specs on the SLATE are good (not great). For us, the 0-60 time, charge time, etc are all acceptable
The SLATE SUV looks like the perfect companion to our Maverick. It’s not a competitor, it’s an accessory 🙂 I hope to buy it using my Amazon prime credit card 🙂
That 150 miles is plenty for us…But then the entire made up range anxiety phobia will be put out of business…If you cannot measure your usage, get a hybrid. This is an actual eCar to buy, not lease. If you are going out to the movies, snagging mulch from Lowes or groceries from Kroger’s, or having coffee with friends this is perfect. Better perhaps than the really expensive Fiat 500e. I want mine in Porsche Orange wrap just for the humor of it all.
ALL OTHER EV MANUFACTURERS TAKE NOTE! If your climate controls and door handles don’t look like this, you have done it wrong.
Needs another button for air filtration mode, plus optional extra buttons if you get heated seats or ventilation. A time-limited rear defogger and side mirror heater would help, too.
I want one, but it’s going to depend on how much the larger battery is. Because I need that larger battery, because this would be for my LLC, and I need at least 100 miles of one-way range to get to customers.
If the larger battery doesn’t cost too much, though… I could very well be looking at my next vehicle.
I read elsewhere that it’s 84 kWh and has a range of 240 miles.
Thank you. My post was a little unclear, I was mostly referring to the price, but I haven’t seen the kWh rating yet, either.
It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about something like this. The promise of a low cost and fairly competent vehicle. Sure, the longer range one will not be $27k before the federal tax incentive which will likely disappear come September’s budget revise.
I was thing about long term ownership of something like this. More modular means a longer life. You can upgrade the battery easier as they improve. Fix the interior easier as it wears, modify it to your current needs. People could make a business out of upgrades for this thing.
Lets start the bets on designs we’ll see 3d printed for the light covers
Smiley face, duh!
Punisher logo
Love the tech – or lack thereof. Spot on with that. We already have phones which are mind-blowingly amazing in terms of engineering, updates, replaceability, and more. It is unbelievably stupid to duplicate all that in a car (unless you are a car company trying to get in on the data game, then it makes perfect sense). I am so freaking happy that this does not appear to be what I feared, in terms of a connected data scooping machine.
Love everything about this – manual windows and door latches, easy access fasteners on everything, basic parts that can be changed out for most things, colored plastic panels, etc., etc. Hope they can actually make it to market!
Really smacks of the 80s and early 90s Rangers, Nissans, Toyotas, and VW pickups, which were so dang useful, super efficient around town. Love the modularity as people’s lives change too, i.e., having a kid. This isn’t replacing anyone’s minivan, but its a super car for a small family or for a second car.
Perhaps this is the first real stab at strategically staving off cheap vehicles from China, if ever allowed stateside. If my choices in the future are this or a disposable higher-tech car from the CCP that requires all my data to just drive down to the grocery, that’s an easy answer. Slate may be testing society’s ‘no mas’ moment regarding social intrusiveness.
Great, an inexpensive vehicle for non-rich people like myself.
That being said…what happens to the price when you add more seats (and a roof over the second row), AWD and the larger battery, to say nothing of an actual radio?
I have a bad feeling the value proposition won’t hold up. Shame, that.
I bet you’re fun at parties.
I bet you use that line a lot.
Doesn’t look like AWD and an actual radio are options on their website, so you don’t have to worry!
Yes, BEV only is the way to go. Multiple powertrains means increased development and production costs, which raise prices.
Since the front end is already set up to accept another motor to make it AWD, that means the electronics are already there. Can that space and/or the frunk space be set up to make this an EREV? That would be ideal.
Jason, I have some news, and I think you’ll want to sit down for this…
I have been saying for years that a company needs to try making a vehicle that is lower cost, simple, clean, modular, easy to work on, and designed to be modified or upgraded. This seems to check most of those boxes.
Can a profit be made on these? hopefully so.
If these sell in big numbers they could spark a whole new generation of aftermarket parts makers for upgrades, improvements, repairs, mods, etc.
JC Whitney to the rescue!
Yep, and 3D printer files for DYI.
Have you seen what the Trump Tax has done to 3D printer prices?
Yay for minimalism! Double yay for modularity!
I’d love to read this article and have a well thought out comment…
But I’m too distracted by the fact I’m getting catheter ads…..
*crosses legs uncomfortably*
Now you have a choice between a Tesla and the anti-Tesla but either way your money goes to a trump loving arsehole. What a time to be alive.
Lucky us!
Yeah, buying used is more attractive than ever.
I don’t know that wealthy industrialists making cars have ever been down with the proletariat.
Well, please enlighten us which car-maker CEO man-of-the-people benevolent father-figure-to-his-workers do you think embodies Marx’s ideals of socialist egalitarianism?
I’m ready to run out to buy a car from his company right now, I’m just putting my shoes on..
edit: sure, Musk is on a whole ‘nother level of super-sayan asshole that no one else could reach, I’ll give you that, but all the other ones fit nicely into the C-suite category
100%. There are no good options but I’ll start with any car not funded by someone in the front row at the inauguration
There’s a possibly apocryphal story about an appliance company that asked mid-20th century homeowners what they wanted in a range; the homeowners said they wanted a simple, basic range, temperature controls, on/off, that’s it. So they made a bunch of very basic ranges without any features, and sold none of them, because when the homeowners went to actually buy, turns out in practice they wanted self-cleaning, timers, the works.
We’ll see, but I suspect everyone has at least one showstopper reason to avoid this truck no matter how much they like the theory.
I agree…enthusiasts say they want stuff like this, but only a small percentage of them will buy it. The general public will find it lacking most of the things they want.
As long as those things can be added as optional extras I think that’s fine. As sleep-deprived Jason squeals in the embedded Insta, it’s Modular!
The general public, maybe…but fleet sales…?
But consider what’s happened today with home appliances: They want a wifi connection so they can send your personal data to be sold. They’re overly complicated, poorly engineered, and not as reliable. Give me a simple basic washer and dryer with features that have been standard for 40 years any day over anything more.
So things have gone too far for some of us with appliances and vehicles. Yes I want air conditioning in a car. Yes I want a heater. I’d like to have power steering and power brakes. But I don’t need a touch screen or any kind of phone integration other than some physical mounting options so I can use the GPS on my phone on occasion. But I don’t need an in-dash espresso maker, poodle warmer, “info-tainment” thing, any touch screens, or heated seat/steering wheel/seatbelt.
Cruise control and android auto are on my list of must haves now, unless I’m buying something older and special.
I’ll be very annoyed at these comments if the vehicle they all asked for comes and they keep self-righteously talking about buying used.
I think the reality with consumer goods is that nobody wants the basic one, relatively few people can afford the top of the line one, but the mid-range, that’s where the money is.
How much is it going to be to get those heated seats, power windows, and other convenience features people actually want? And since it’s apparently DIY to put them in, how many people are actually going to put up with that?
Effing mid range cost of car is now what? $50,000? The mostly useless, but very cute iBuzz is over 65K. Slate and Dacia have the correct idea: Reasonable build, inexpensive stuttering price, with lots of add ons if you want that shit. I’m in
It has been a long time since I’ve looked at a 4 wheeled vehicle and said “Take my money please”.
A new Ford Model T?
Crank windows are a plus, I can reach across a small vehicle and hell the coffee on my desk was ground a few minutes ago with a WH Co. Box.
I agree,
I’m thinking more 2CV or Méhari, but I assume this is better in a crash
A model T at this point is an amusing toy, but a model A is still an eminently useful car.
Truth be told however I often think that Colin Chapman cribbed the simplify and add lightness idea from the model T.
Still, I’d drive an A in slow traffic. A T off road, or on a track, but in traffic I’d want at least the safety of a bicycle.
Perfect replacement for my Mazda B2600i. I never needed 4WD to start with, but when you buy used, you get what you get.
I’m certain that it’s no accident that the non-wrapped color is a match for Amazon’s delivery livery. (Yes I said it that way on purpose.)
Get the bed to at least 6′ and I’d place my deposit tomorrow. I don’t even care if the wheelbase is the same and there’s more ass hanging off the end – this isn’t an off roader and clearance angles be damned. My old Ranger recently gave up the ghost and was reluctantly replaced with a first-gen Colorado, but that’s a very temporary stopgap…
Yeah for me as long as it can carry a 4×8 it’s perfect, and they swear this can with the gate down, it’ll hang out of course, but it’s sufficient for my needs.
I’m not sure what’s going on in the photo they show, the wood is snug to the bed sides yet somehow hanging off the left side of the tailgate
I think that’s just a weird perspective. It looks to me that the wood is elevated above the wheel wells, with some sort of platform to support it, then hanging out quite a bit.
Agreed, but 5′ is barely enough bed for a motorcycle or frontend loader scoop of something.
My Ranger bed was the perfect size for one scoop (1/2 yard) of topsoil, 5′ is going to leave a bunch of material I paid for sitting on the ground as I drive away from the nursery. Also 6′ with the tailgate down should hold 8′ lumber and material with minimal overhang or two motorcycles since you wouldn’t need to kick one sideways – I guess you can do it with 5′ and more junk past the trunk, but “six feet is the ideal mini truck bed length” is a hill I’m comfortable dying on.
6′ is not just ideal but definitive. I can make do with 5′ when it’s the only option but I’d rather not.
Maybe they have a C shaped add on bit to turn the tailgate into a bed extension, and add sides above it? I feel like that’s been done in the past.
That’s where I am as well. Five foot beds are the compromise forced on crew cab trucks. Single cabs get six foot beds or GTFO.
Any word on repair? Is it capable of DIY repair, do they support right to repair, publish the technical manuals, etc?
That would be unbelievably cool. Publish all of the factory manuals and service data online. Make all of the diagnostics software free or a modest one time truly lifetime purchase that is transferrable and stays with the VIN. That would be breaking the mold.
Other articles I have read about Slate state that not only are they encouraging DIY, but they are building “Slate University” as a source for owners to find how to videos, diagrams, etc. They are also partnering with a nationwide repair company (think Aamco or Meineke or something) from the get go to offer repairs.
A simple and straightforward vehicle like this appeals to me too… and I would love for this to be a huge success.
But the thing is, I see what people actually buy. The vast majority of new car buyers go for the bells and whistles and luxury… because North Americans have gone soft.
If people won’t buy this due to the lack of features, then they won’t buy it due to the lack of 4 doors. And if that still doesn’t stop them, the standard sub-200 mile range likely will stop many.
The sub-200 mile range is what would stop me personally. But if they don’t charge too much for the 240 mile range version, then it will appeal to dozens more people.
Seriously… I would love to be wrong about this. But the fact is that even vehicles like the Wrangler and the Land Rover Fucking Defender these days have the touch screens, power windows and a lot of other unnecessary luxury shit.
Now you might say that this will draw in people who would otherwise buy used.
But I don’t think so.
Even used car buyers are addicted to the bells and whistles and luxury these days.
So I still am expecting this to be a flop.
But I wouldn’t be upset if I’m proven wrong.
My opinion on all these expensive unneeded luxuries on every single new car: if all the carmakers have them built in to raise their prices & margins, what is the car buyer to do? Car ownership is still a necessity in this country, so they bite the bullet, sign on for the 72month loan and buy them, since the (very poor) alternative is a bus pass.
I think this will appeal to two groups: those that need a CHEAP new car (this is totally dependent on EV subsidy applying, otherwise the Slate’s value proposition goes up in smoke), and those that don’t want a million touch screens, electronic nannies, heated steering wheels, etc.
As for the 4 doors, I had an ’01 Grand Prix GT Coupe in college. We hopped in and out of the back just fine. 4 doors would be more convenient, but anyone under the age of 40 should be able to climb in and out once in a while without it being a dealbreaker. And if you do need to regularly move more than two adults around in it, you would probably look for something larger anyway. This is a smaaaaall vehicle!
I reserved a yellow lifted fastback. I’m sold.
This is the replacement for my Toyota 5 lug tacoma. A little bit more power, a little less towing, but everything else is perfect.